The end of the Callisto campaign (see below) should have meant well-earnt retirement for you, marine.

Now that the Callisto anomaly has been brought back to earth, someone else can mop up the remains..after all, we now have the measure of the monsters, and are starting to clear them out of most of earth.

But there is a problem...one of the spooks at the military academy came up to you in the camp laboratory last night with a bunch of old books and things in a time-stasis case.

He said there were quite a few of them in a military store in deepest Iowa (thats right, the one where the Ark of the Covenant is stored) - and told you that this was a CLASS 1 secret. Even the president was never told about these, and up until now, no-one has known how to interpret them. They are in a variety of hands, some ancient (one even seems to be a papyrus scroll with hieroglyphics, although the spook will only mutter darkly about plagues and darknesses when you ask about it) and some more modern.

The upshot of it is that all describe foul beings that have haunted some troubled spots of earth. The spook produces a marbled edged ledger, its pages spotted with blood, and edges burnt.

You read the copperplate with a sinking feeling.. "The ledger of William Jago, butcher, at the sign of the Red Deaths Head, Solomons End, Whitechapel, London, in the year 1858...I know the things were out in the alleyways in Whitechapel again last night..I know it is not a dream, and I saw the two watch men all burnt up by the fire from the evil brown things hands..all the people hid behind their doorways, and even the night-walkers fled..there was a great beast of some kind that made a blasphemous noise in which I could hear no words spoken..noises as of engines came from the site where the new buildings are to be made by Cut-Throat Alley..I heard terrible deep laughter, vile laughter..some arch-fiend is hiding in the alleyways, and I fear for my soul.."

"All we know, Blazkowicz, is that Jago and his shop and all the area around it were destroyed in a huge fire, and they never recovered any bodies" says the spook "but theres a problem... the British government psychics say that the bastards have come back twice..once during the 1880s and again during the first world war... at least one of the Jack the Ripper sightings was of a brown thing the size of a man with thorns growing from its legs and arms, and fire around it..they put the man who reported it in Bedlam, but we think we know the truth now...and they say that the problem may emerge again..soon"

The spook tells you about the experiments with the Callisto anomaly, and the attempts to use it to see the heart of Victorian London.

"Unfortunately, we lost a few men attempting to get through, Blazkowicz...keep an eye out for them, some may be rescuable..We think that most of the ammunition and stores we sent through has reached the target area, but we aren't sure.. we are not even sure if we can bring you home.. keep a sharp eye for anything that looks like a switch..if the creatures are there, it'll be heavily guarded."

"Some of our people have a theory that the Callisto anomaly will transport you to the nearest brood of the hellspawn..the nearest to here is London 1858, but there may not be a way straight back. There's another..well, that can wait! It looks like your tour of duty, marine..if you don't make it straight back, read the update on your belt computer - it's updated automatically, and it should give you some idea of what you're up against..good luck!"

You strap on your military revolver, walk up to the Anomaly Lab. "OK, lets rock.." and you step into the machine. Night settles... ================================================================

Credits:

Base:

Indigestion, drunkenness, a perverted imagination and an interest in industrial archaeology.

Build time:

Oh, god, weeks, months, where did my muscle tone go?

Editor(s) used:

Win32DEU, DEU2 and BSP 1.1w

Bugs:

Well...it isn't big enough...that bugs me. One small eccentricity of Win32DEU is that it lets you copy one thing directly on top of another. If that's an enemy, they can't move, so it's no good, but it is entertaining in some other ways. I've left one in deliberately...can you spot it?

A truly unique and overlooked classic. This level dates back to mid-'95, but its disorientating traps and progression make it stand out even today. The architecture walks a thin line between realistic cityscape and gothic nightmare, and the attention to detail is unrivaled for an urban map of its era. Sadly, the follow-ups mentioned in the textfile don't seem to exist anymore. 5/5

A classic. The atmosphere and eye candy in this level is absolutely incredible considering it's from fucking 1995. The detail is minimal but it manages to create a better atmosphere than just about every uber-detail WAD I have played. The gameplay is excellent as well, with lots of interesting traps and situations you end up being in. One of the best.

Although the story is pretty turgid, the level is surprisingly atmospheric. The design is a very good stab at Victorian London. There's a nice balance of ammo and baddies (perhaps a bit too much health). It's cramped, but in a good way. Very good for 1995, still playable today, although it relies on you running over invisible switch lines and backtracking a few times.